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I hate my job
BY Kevin Hageland Staff Writer
Usually I like my job.
After all, why else would I stay at a place where the only time I’m likely to get a raise is when President Obama mandates a hike in the minimum wage?
But there are other times when I really hate what I do: specifically playoff season.
I’ve gotten to encounter that twice in the last week alone and it was quite a sobering experience.
I knew that would be the case last Friday when I covered the West-Flower Mound Marcus area round girls basketball game. We have papers in both markets, which means a necessity to talk to both coaches, and obviously I would be interviewing one of them just minutes after their season had come to an end.
That happened to be the Lady Marauders last Friday. I talked to head coach Kit Kyle after the game and she already had tears streaming down her face by the time I got to her.
It’s no wonder she walked up to me and said, “alright, let’s get this over with.”
She was very helpful with her answers, and I understand why she might not have really wanted to talk to me. Quite frankly, I didn’t really want to talk to her either at such a tough time. Neither myself, nor any of our writers, want to intrude at such an emotional moment, but that’s part of our job and hopefully it provides more perspective on the game for the readers.
That task can be even tougher when it’s a coach and a team you cover on a more regular basis.
That was the case Tuesday night when the West girls were eliminated in the Region I Quarterfinals by Cedar Hill.
The game itself was probably the best girls basketball game I have seen in two years. There were 17 lead changes and the contest wasn’t decided until the final 30 seconds. But when it was decided, the Lady Wolves were on the losing end.
That meant grabbing a word after the game with West head coach Don Patterson.
Patterson is known for his fiery demeanor on the court, so much so that my unnamed cameraman is still afraid to talk to him, but Patterson is a nice guy off the court and he genuinely cares about the girls he coaches.
That was apparent Tuesday night when Patterson walked out of the locker room following the loss to Cedar Hill, leaned against the wall in the hallway of the Flower Mound gym and slowly sunk to a seated position on the ground with his head in his hands.
Patterson took a minute to compose himself and then gave me a friendly hello before we got into the interview.
He answered all my questions, but whether it was in his answers or a few extended pauses, you could tell Patterson was hurting. Same thing could be said for when I talked with Lady Wolves senior Alexann Yancey, a player I have covered for four years.
That’s hard to block out when you are asking follow-up questions or writing the subsequent stories. But I suppose that’s part of being a professional … yes, I am actually considered that by many … okay, some … people.
I always hope that part of the job gets easier.
But it never does.
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